


Remnant Unbound

by Syra_Nova



Category: RWBY
Genre: Action/Adventure, Alternate Universe - Fantasy, F/F, F/M, Faunus as Beastkin, Fluff, I do what I want, Inspired by Dungeons & Dragons, M/M, Magic, Multi, Original Character-centric, Other Additional Tags to Be Added
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-03
Updated: 2020-08-09
Packaged: 2021-03-01 02:54:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 10,373
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23458150
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Syra_Nova/pseuds/Syra_Nova
Summary: Remnant is a world of Dust. Of Magic. Of Adventure.The people are people. Some good. Some evil.The beasts are beasts. Some noble. Some heinous.The Grimm threaten all of that.Some choose to defend against them with their strength. Their skill. Their wit.The rest live out their lives, grateful for their heroes.Lyla wants to be a hero. Not the kind in a fairy tale but the real, every day kind. The Grimm are a nightmare, everyone knows that. But there are some very real nightmares caused by people and their problems too. You have to protect against those too.
Relationships: Undisclosed Relationship(s)
Kudos: 2





	1. Beginning a Journey

_ Are you interested in a life of fame and fortune? Interested in a life led hunting the most dangerous monsters the world has to offer? Protecting the innocent alongside the country's armies when the need arises? _

_ Seek out Beacon and see where your skills are most needed! Everyone is capable of helping the fight against the dangers of the world! Both on the battlefield and off of it! See what you can do! _

When looking for work as a mercenary there was no such thing as too blunt an advertisement. Lyla had seen some particularly outlandish things on some of the flyers she’d come across. And heard some especially foul ones out of the mouths of the brutish recruiters that often fronted those organizations. This one though? Clean. Tasteful. Simple. It obviously didn’t go into the particulars of the real dangers that came with hunting bandits, brigands, and monsters but it was pretty impossible to get help fleshing out the local militias if you did. At the end of the day, the Grimm threats trumped all of those things and was where your prowess in combat would be put to the test if that was what you signed on for. 

But going by the enchanted graphic on the poster in Vale City’s biggest pub, a charming little place with an equally adorable name of The Fox’s Den, they were looking for more than just swords and guns. A beautiful silhouetted tower against a backdrop of the night sky, broken moon and all, with a group of people training with swords and shields but also penning books on Grimm and helping civilians. On top of being a lovely rendition of all the things that  _ should  _ go on in a place like that, it was animated to have the people move and the stars twinkle, catching the eye immediately as the characters waved at passerby. 

Maybe she should try-

“Thinking of joining up at Beacon?” A hand leaned up against the wall next to the public posting board the ad was nailed to, bound in leather wraps and covered in calluses on the knuckles. “I’d love to show you around if so.”

It was the woman the hand belonged to that had Lyla doing a double take. And not just because she had become drop dead gorgeous in the time since they had seen each other last, though that had the unfortunate side effect of making Lyla blush when she tried to speak. 

“Y-Yang?” she exclaimed, drawing a start from the tall blonde currently towering over her before the near-instant realization set in for her too. 

“Wh- Lyla! C’mere, you! What the hey are you doin’ here?” 

Lyla squealed when Yang wrapped strong arms around her waist and hefted her into a bear hug, covering her face with both hands as heads turned and looked her way. By the Maidens it made her happy to be instantly recognized by someone she hadn’t seen since they were children but now she’d gone and made herself conspicuous. “Lemme doooown, Yang!” she whined, drawing a muffled laugh that landed in her coat where the blond was nuzzling her stomach. 

Yang did let her down though and immediately cupped her scarlet cheeks, pushing thin fingers out of the way to look Lyla over and lay a kiss on her forehead. That only made the mortification worse going by the spread of the blush to petite ears but there was a brilliant smile on Lyla’s face that said she didn’t mind too much.    
  
“I came for an adventure,” Lyla stated simply, reaching up to hold Yang’s hands and look up at her with shining amber eyes. She belatedly realized then that the brash little girl she’d briefly known as a child now had nearly a foot on her but that didn’t matter. Nothing mattered in the face of knowing that she wouldn’t have to be a lone traveler like she’d expected.

“Then boy do I have one for you!” Yang crowed, tugging Lyla into another crushing hug before sweeping her off her feet and into her arms in a princess carry, eliciting another embarrassed screech. “ _ To Beacon we go! _ ”

As it turned out, Yang’s opening line to her, if it hadn’t worked as a flirty pickup, would have turned into a legitimate recruitment attempt. She had been out and about bar-hopping looking for either a good time and/or a new friend to join her personal group at the Guild when she saw a cloaked figure perusing the call board at The Fox's Den: Lyla.

Apparently she cut an impressive (and sexy) figure from behind despite her lack of weaponry. 

That second part had inspired more than a little bit of a blush and perhaps a few embarrassed slaps that landed on unfazed muscles. 

The two of them waxed poetic about their shared summer together on the way to Beacon, attempting to cram as much lost time into the half-hour walk as possible. A couple of girls that hadn't seen each other since they were five years old had a lot to catch up on. 

Lyla learned that not only had their shared childhood promise inspired Yang to join Patch's militia in her teen years before moving on to travel to Vale in search of adventure with her parents' begrudging blessings, her baby sister had chased after her to do the same. 

_ That  _ was hard to imagine. Tiny tomboy Yang wrestling her to the ground on Patch's beaches? Not surprising as a fighter. Though she hadn’t expected her to grow up to be such a bombshell of a woman. But for the life of her Lyla could not picture chubby little Ruby Rose as a fighter. She'd been a toddler when she'd last seen her, inhaling chocolate chip cookies into her mouth by the fistful. 

The cookie part evidently hadn't changed much but it was apparently Ruby's idea to check out the guilds and seek out like-minded people to go explore with. They'd gone in together guns blazing, figuratively of course, and impressed some of the veterans enough that they'd gotten included on an expedition to a newly discovered ancient ruin. Where someone had promptly unearthed a horde of trapped Grimm. The two of them had helped to cull the swarm of dark creatures before they stampeded their way across the Forever Fall Forest, earning themselves a proper reputation as truly skilled newcomers. 

Since then the two of them had helped out in the many villages around Vale City, helping to control the random outbursts of monstrous activity. They were having the times of their lives, reaching out to their family via Scroll call a couple times a month to reassure them and making friends in the guild. 

If only Lyla's experience had been quite so smooth…

Yang learned the main reason Lyla had never been back to Patch was because her globe-trotting parents couldn't take her back on another one of their many business ventures. She'd been left with an uncle on the western coast of Mistral while they gallivanted their way from town to town making sales, only to be set upon by Grimm as a small village in the countryside was wiped off the map. 

So instead of learning what the rest of the world was like as they'd wanted her to do she'd been stuck in a small town while Geran siphoned away parts of her inheritance to gamble and drink with and left her to her own devices. What she  _ had  _ learned despite him was how to recognize a scummy person, but not much else since she’d been left to take herself to school and find her own entertainment. 

A child left alone to do as they chose without consequences was bound to get into trouble and learn about the repercussions of their actions the hard way.

Old Man Kyran had called the authorities when she'd been caught snooping around his house, bored out of her mind and intrigued by the many arcane knick-knacks and thingamabobs on his property. Then he'd called them a second time after feeding her some snacks and learning of her uncle's neglect. And, rather than leave her to the mercy of the authorities and let her go through the questionable foster system, he took her in, cared for her the way her family member should have and engaged her mind. He couldn't take her from country to country but he knew how to cast a few spells. And magic was its own world to explore. 

Now, after learning all she could from him and a few other tricks she’d picked up from some books, she was choosing to use what remained of her inheritance to start her own journey and see all the places her parents had wanted her to see. And along the way she wanted to help right some wrongs for some other people before they had a chance to lose the things she’d lost. She’d booked a spot on a boat to Vytal and then another one going from there to Vale City. 

Vytal had been relatively uninteresting, aside from the pretty monuments to wars from ages past. Historically significant, but nothing happening, so she hadn’t felt too bad about moving on without much in the way of sightseeing. Though she’d had a hard time not berating some old codger for trying to guilt trip her into feeling bad about "ignoring important history" and "honoring the memories of fallen heroes". 

And now she had been here for three weeks, perusing every want ad and hunting down all the hearsay about all the Guilds Vale had to offer. There were a lot of them after all and they all had a home base in Vale City. Finding one that would feel like a home was the most important thing and she didn't want to room in a place filled with battle-crazed idiots. 

Beacon’s was by far the most beautiful and calm place she'd seen so far. The grounds were vast with numerous buildings situated around a grand tower, the very one from their poster it seemed, with gardens and statues dedicated to past heroes littered about. 

Yang led her to a building north of the tower, heading inside of an inn-like place several stories high and full of noise on the inside. 

"Welcome to Firsthold! Best rooms in Beacon and the best housemates you could ask for!" Yang declared as she burst inside, drawing gazes and a few greetings from the crammed common room that seemed all-too-used to her loud exclamations.

The house name had been inscribed above the front door but Lyla appreciated the announcement regardless, giggling while she blushed at the eyes turned her way. 

It was a pretty space, a wide room that took up the entire first floor of the building with an enormous fire pit in the center surrounded by countertops to sit at. Tables and plush chairs littered the area, filled by groups of all ages and varieties. There were packs of young adults that horsed around like they'd grown up together and subdued, older gatherings that chatted over coffee and game boards. An older uncle-looking type that pranked anyone in arm's reach with a beer in hand. A sober teen covered in scars reading a book to her toddler. Friendly chatter and merry shouts overwhelmed Lyla's ears as she was guided past all that to a distant corner where a girl in red and black pored over a technical-looking drawing on a large piece of paper while a ginger-haired girl with wide green eyes watched her. 

If she hadn’t been considering the fact that Miss Summer would be middle-aged by this point, Lyla might have thought that was who sat at that table. 

"Rubes! Look who I found!" Yang shouted excitedly, startling Ruby so badly she tossed her pencil in the air with a gasp. 

"Yang, why would you do that when I'm- Wait. Who?" The annoyance in her voice told Lyla that this was Yang's sister Ruby before she had time to even try and reconcile the slender beauty before her with the chunky toddler she'd known. Only a sibling could be that brand of irritated with someone so happy. Something about the look she gave Lyla, who had still not taken her hood down, had given her pause and interrupted her annoyance with Yang’s shouting. "...Should I know who this is?" 

"Ah well, maybe not," Yang admitted, an excited grin on her face. She’d noticed a new blush dusting Lyla’s cheeks and prompted her to speak with a light pat on the rump, interrupting her open staring. “You might though if she introduced herself.”

"I- I'm Lyla," she bristled, focused on punishing an unrepentant Yang for her sexual harassment with a smack and sending an apologetic look Ruby's way for her shriek. "We met when you were little so I understand if you don't-"

" _ Birdy?! _ "

_ Oh no. She remembered the nickname.  _

" _ That's  _ what it was! We called you Birdy! I knew you were bluffing!" Yang howled, hands clutched over her stomach as she laughed while Ruby seemed to vanish in a whirl of rose petals and then reappear attached to a bewildered and embarrassed Lyla's side. 

She accepted the hug happily but glared owlishly at Yang for her transgressions, having sincerely hoped they wouldn't remember that little detail. Yang had brought up that she couldn't remember if they’d called her Birdy, Owly, or something similar but Lyla had managed to make her drop it with a lie of them calling her Lily.

The fourth young lady present seemed to be the quite baffled by the siblings’ antics and spoke up in a carefully measured tone as Yang and Ruby devolved into giggles. She of course hadn't been there. "I don't understand. Miss Lyla, was it? My name is Penny. I'm a friend of Ruby and Yang's. Is there a joke I'm missing?"

Lyla focused on Penny's words gratefully, having already accepted the siblings' laughter wasn't about to end anytime soon. She gently shook Ruby free after one last squeeze so she could sit and wait them out, speaking to the ginger-haired woman instead. 

"I don't want there to be but yeah, kinda," she sighed, fidgeting with the sleeves of her long coat. "I'm Lyla and I knew Yang and Ruby for a summer when we were little. They called me Birdy because I was thin and tiny and their parents told them my last name was a bird name. That and… other reasons."

"Oh, I see. It's lovely to meet you, Lyla!" Penny said in a bright voice, extending a hand for an oddly firm handshake. "You must be happy to see them though. Are you visiting Vale?"

"I came looking for work actually," Lyla said. "Ran into Yang at a bar so she brought me here to check out Beacon and see Ruby. It's nice to meet you, too."

"Ooh! Are you gonna join up? I bet you're an incredible fighter! Especially with your wings!" Ruby exclaimed, vibrating excitedly as she reached across the table to take Lyla's hand. "But first you gotta tell me what you've been up to! I really only kinda sorta remember you because Yang brought you up  _ every summer  _ for a few years hoping you'd come back!"

"Did she now?" Lyla asked, a smirk on her face as Yang finally took her turn with the blush, making everyone giggle this time while Penny looked intensely curious at the mention of "wings". "Well. It's not all happy but I'll go over it again and then we can talk about the guild. But you gotta tell me what you’re doing too, Ruby and Penny. Fair’s fair."

Learning about Ruby and Penny was an experience for sure. From hearing about their rocky meeting when Ruby accidentally got involved in Penny’s clandestine sting operation handed down from the Atlesian military, to learning that the two of them were now dating while they did Guild work and took the occasional job from Penny's military superior, it was a wild ride. Hearing that they were dating had been an accident as Yang let it slip mid-story but Lyla made a show of boxing her around the ears while Ruby's embarrassment subsided.

Apparently that had been a more recent development but it didn’t make the knowledge any less jarring after hearing about how they had met because Ruby nearly got taken hostage by illegal arms dealers.

Ruby had just as much energy as she'd always had as a toddler except now she'd learned to channel it into a unique Semblance that let her super speed around. Which explained how she'd seemed to vanish for brief seconds at a time when she got excited as well as the random rose petals scattered across the floor. The schematic she was working on was apparently her latest mechanical breakthrough; a transforming bladed weapon that morphed into a gun. And this was just the latest iteration of the design. She was high-tension and justice incarnate, bundled together into someone that wanted to be thirteen places at once to help thirty different people. 

Penny, for being a good deal quieter and a little hesitant in her speech, seemed to be a good match for the energetic young lady. Her gentle demeanor contained a heatedly inquisitive mind, fueled by her self-admitted desire to find a place for herself in the world as someone that was created rather than born into it. It seemed such a contrast to someone apparently a part of the military of the most uptight nation in the world but she seemed to hold all of those mantles at once and still be endearing. She chose to remain quiet about her actual past, stating that much of it was considered state secrets but she had no compunctions with saying that Ruby had definitely saved her life once already.

Lyla recounting her troubled childhood a second time wasn't too difficult after having done it once with Yang already. She could even go over a couple things in more detail, like her brief stint as a delinquent child when Geran had forced her into taking care of herself, getting involved with some petty theft and a few teenage fights. The worst of it was having to reassure everyone that she was okay now, made easier when she finally let the hood on her long coat down and shed the layer to show off her long grey hair and cool down. That served as a suitable distraction from talks about what her life had been like before being taken in by her adoptive "grandpa". 

Her thick silvery braid was one of her only mementos of her parents, a point of pride for her since Mom had always raved about how she'd gotten the best of both worlds from the two of them. Falling to her hips now at the age of 23 she wasn’t sure what she’d do without the familiar weight hanging from her head and her daily morning ritual of brushing it out. The major point of focus for most people wasn't her hair though; the silver wings sprouting from her shoulders gathered far more attention if she didn't conceal them. So now that she had to lose her coat to avoid roasting alive in this warm, people-filled building, she could feel the eyes on her from all around. 

Luckily, Vale had already proved to be quite nice to Faunus for the most part. 

"Oh, so you're a bird Faunus with wings! I get it now!" Penny exclaimed, gleefully clapping her hands as she watched them get ruffled and shaken out a little now that they were free. "They're so pretty! Can you fly with them?"

"Yeah. Thank you. And yes, I can. Falcon Faunus. Pretty quick as long as I don't get too much meat on my tummy." Lyla smiled and patted her stomach for emphasis, very glad that all the bad food she'd eaten on the boat ride wasn't showing through. "Before anyone asks though, no touching please."

Ruby seemed to notice Lyla reflexively drawing those wings in and spoke to calm her nerves. "I remember! No touchy touchy. Got it. Not without permission," she said with a lighthearted smile, clearly remembering the lesson from her parents from back then despite how young she'd been. 

That did make her feel better and she bashfully spread them some, stretching the sore muscles from having them trapped and hidden. 

"Wow," Yang breathed from her side of the table. She'd been unusually quiet once they'd started to spread and seemed to be on the hunt for the right thing to say. Or perhaps on the hunt for words at all. "I uh- They're- They're even prettier than I remember."

Lyla flushed when Yang finally found the words she wanted, pleased with the compliment. 

"Anyway. Let's not talk about my wings. Let's talk about Beacon. You guys all live here?" As much as she appreciated the kind words of her friends, both old and new, she didn't want to have all the conversation focused on her. She wanted to actually learn about this place and see if it was as good a fit as she was hoping it would be since it had them in it. 

"Yep, sure do! Yang said with a new grin, reaching over and poking one of Lyla's red cheeks. "We've got two rooms up on the third floor; one for me, one for them. And we can get as many as we need depending on who registers with our group. Anyone that wants to join just tells Oz what they want to do for the guild and if they wanna run solo or in a team. Easy peasy." 

Lyla let Ruby blush in peace from the room comment while she talked to Yang. She, of all people, who got embarrassed about everything, had no room to tease someone who looked a little self-conscious about being called out.

"Just like that? No nasty trial by combat thing or interrogation?" That had been something most of the guilds she'd checked in on had tried to do. They were all so insistent on finding strong fighters, yet so insecure about their positions of power in their made-up hierarchies, they were willing to beat down any potential recruit just to be sure they didn't earn a place too high in the pecking order while still being sure they were capable of holding their own. 

“Just some easy questions. No interrogation. Oz is chill and just wants people to come help with whatever they can. If you wanna join he lets you join.” Yang laughed and retracted her hand quickly when Lyla took a playful bite at her finger. “Honestly though, I think Beacon’s the best place to be. Everyone does their own thing their own way but everyone’s still trying to help people instead of just go fight everything. It’s awesome.”

“Yeah! And they’ve got a ton of senior people that have been doing this stuff for ages!” Ruby chimed in, excitedly brandishing the schematic she’d been drawing on at Lyla. “There’s so many people with experience in everything that you can find new ways of doing all sorts of stuff! Like, there are people here studying botany next to people learning ancient swordplay moves next to a library of spellbooks that anyone can look over! There's everything!"

"Plus, there's good friends here, Miss Lyla." Penny's voice was quietest when she spoke about Beacon's good points but she gave Lyla a knowing look, as if she knew exactly what would really help her make her decision here. "Everyone is nice and everyone wants to help everyone else. We'll all be here to assist in anything you need."

Lyla stayed quiet for a few moments while she turned it all over in her head, grateful that Penny engaged Ruby and Yang in asking the dorm mother about dinner with the hour getting late so she could think. 

Not that her decision wasn't already made. 

Really, even with the anxiety of not knowing how well they'd all get along now that they were all adults and not children playing in the sand and dirt on Patch, the choice going forward seemed obvious.

Lyla looked over the two girls she'd known all those summers ago with a happy smile, remembering just how much her memories of them had sustained her after her parents had passed. Having them close at hand again seemed like a wonderful idea. 

"So. I guess," she began, biting her lip and catching the girls' attention with her pause. "Where do I go to talk to the Guildmaster?"

Yang and Ruby both let out a whoop and high-fived each other, reaching down to tug a laughing Lyla from her chair. 

"Right this way, m'lady," Yang purred with a great big grin, pulling the Faunus into another princess carry, much to her displeasure. 

"To Ozpin we go!" Ruby cried over Lyla's squeals of protest, taking off running with Yang close behind and Penny bringing up the rear.

_ Well. I guess I asked for that one.  _


	2. How Hard Could Getting a Room Be?

Guildmaster Ozpin was a quiet one. Mysterious. Observant. Normally Lyla got good vibes off of people who stayed quiet and listened first. She still wasn't sure how she felt about Ozpin after spending a good thirty minutes in his office at the top of Beacon's central tower. He'd hardly interrogated her, like Yang promised. He just wanted to know about her motivations for joining and to explain her skills. Joining up with Yang's group was basically a forgone conclusion and he accepted it so easily there was no argument there. Lyla was just left with the strangest sensation of having met with some odd entity that judged her by some rubric she couldn't fathom and sent her on her way without fanfare and a very basic explanation of how things would work around the guild day-to-day. 

And she got a piece of paper with his signature on it and a brooch of Beacon's insignia to denote her status as a new member. 

So it wasn't that bad of an experience. Just mildly unsettling. 

From there she just had to speak with the head administrator of Firsthold to get a room next to her friends. Supposedly it was quite easy once you got around Miss Goodwitch's cold attitude. Which was why Ruby and Penny had taken places in the line forming around the common room's fire pit where food was being served. Ruby found the dorm mother intimidating apparently, as did most people. 

"Doooon't worry. Glynda plays like she's a hard-ass but she's secretly a softie." Yang chuckled as she led Lyla towards a door on the back wall, clearly not as worried as the random passerby that had gravely wished them good fortune. That didn't exactly inspire confidence. 

And one might almost think that Goodwitch didn't  _ want  _ to be bothered. She had such a well-hidden office that Lyla might have missed it if not for the guidance. The rest of the floor was so rambunctious and loud it was hard to get one's bearings. "Goodwitch?! You here?"

"Of course, Miss Xiao Long. Shouting is unnecessary. Come in."

Lyla stepped over the threshold cautiously, bracing herself mentally as she heard the severe tone of the woman speaking to Yang. The office itself was immaculate, if densely packed, filled to the brim with neat stacks of paperwork, files, and an air of cold efficiency. 

Glynda Goodwitch painted a dignified picture from behind her solid desk. Her tight blonde bun, formal blouse, and sharp glasses gave her the true look of a woman well-suited to administrative work. It was the calculating gaze behind those spectacles that really hinted at the critical personality that likely scared Ruby. 

_ Not intimidating at all.  _

"Hello. You must be a new team member for Miss Xiao Long," Glynda stated as she spied Lyla coming in. "I remember Miss Rose making mention of a recruitment effort. You must be here about a room then. Could I have your name and your paperwork from the Guildmaster?"

No-nonsense efficiency from Glynda it seemed. It was disconcerting after dealing with Ozpin's spacey attitude to say the least. 

"Um. Lyla. Wrenn," she supplied hesitantly, fumbling with the paperwork she'd thoughtlessly stuffed into her messenger bag and dropping her long coat on the floor in the process. All while Glynda stared with an outstretched hand, silently waiting while Lyla blushed harder and harder the longer it took to pass the stack over. 

"Thank you," came the only reply once it was done, a heavy silence falling but for the shuffling of paper as Glynda thumbed through it and referenced a thick tome at her side coated in notes and memos. 

"So… Yang said there's an empty room next to hers right now. Could I take that one?" Lyla tried to awkwardly start up the conversation to figure out what she was waiting on, unsure of why Yang was being so uncharacteristically quiet and shooting her an irritated look. 

"Unfortunately not, I'm afraid.”   
  
“Huh? Why?” That garnered Yang’s attention. "There's so many empty-"

“Because the three rooms around yours were just promised to a new group who are in the process of moving their belongings this evening, Miss Xiao Long. They began that process just after you left earlier today and should be just about finished in the next couple of hours before sundown,” Glynda explained, making several marks on Lyla’s paperwork with a frown. “More importantly though, Miss Wrenn. Do you have any accommodation requests? Upper or lower floor? Corner room?"

That gave Lyla pause as she hadn't really considered that. She did frown though and gave Glynda a suspicious look. "I wouldn't mind a roommate." She looked back at Yang, assuming she'd probably be stuck in her room. "But I get to make requests? What for?" she questioned, wondering why she would be given an allowance like that. 

"Requests within reason," Glynda amended. "Beacon has a policy of recognizing individuality for our members so if there is something about your room that would make you more comfortable we would like to provide that. Miss Xiao Long for instance asked that she not be placed with a roommate for… personal reasons."

Yang choked on her breath behind Lyla at the accusatory look she received. "I, uh- I kinda wanna keep it that way too. Sorry," she mumbled, pink-cheeked and avoiding her friend's gaze. 

"I guess I wouldn't mind having a random roommate if I can't room with Yang or Ruby," Lyla said after seeing that she wasn't going to get a reasoning from the tall blonde. It was disappointing all the same though and she looked back around at Glynda with a glum expression. If she were being completely honest though she didn't want to be alone in a room by herself despite not wanting to intrude on the others' space. "As long as it's not a boy, anyway. I'd prefer a room with a big window and a good view though, if I can."

"Perfect. I may perhaps have a nearby room with space depending on the roommate fit. Otherwise the nearest room would be a couple of floors away. How do you feel about children?"

Lyla blinked at the non-sequitur. "They're… fine? Kids are cute. Do you have kids studying here or something?" Kids were adorable, in fact. Hopefully one day she'd be able to have kids of her own when she found a place to settle down. Finding a partner who also wanted kids might be the tricky part since lesbians didn't seem to be interested but… one could hope. "I could totally be a babysitter if someone needed it. Not like we'll be busy  _ all  _ the time, right Yang?"

The searching look from Glynda and the open smirk from Yang said her attempt at nonchalance wasn't really working. 

"How about we go check in on a possible roommate then? Miss Xiao Long why don't you go get some dinner? I'm sure this won't take much time."

Lyla couldn't do much about the imperious dismissal and meekly followed Glynda towards a set of stairs in the corner while Yang waved apologetically.

"I'll get you some feed, Birdy!" Yang called, quickly retreating with a laugh as Lyla snatched up an empty vase nearby.

"Stuff it, Yang!" Out of all the people on Remnant though, Yang was about the only one she'd tolerate a joke like that from and the smile on her face said as much. 

"Please don't throw things inside the building," Glynda reprimanded. A gentle purple glow wrapped up the vase and snatched it from Lyla's hands, gently setting it back on its stand while the administrator continued upstairs. "Save it for when you're outside please."

"So I can throw vases at Yang as long as I'm outside?"

"I would prefer if you didn't throw vases at Miss Xiao Long."

"But other things are fine."

"I didn't say that."

Maybe Miss Goodwitch wasn't so scary after all. 

The room Glynda took her to was all the way up on the fifth floor down a  _ long  _ hallway. There were quite large spaces between some doors and short ones between others. For instance, there was a door right beside the one bearing the name  _ Nova Rossi _ that said  _ Ruby Rose and Penny Polendina _ but almost nothing near either of them on that wall. The closest one, nestled right in the corner of the building, her keen eyes could pick out a door that said  _ Yang Xiao Long _ . The ones across the hall didn't seem to have names on them as of yet but there was an awful lot of indistinct shouting and shuffling happening inside them. 

"Your neighbors across the hall will be a rambunctious lot no doubt but no more so than the ones next door if this proves to be to your liking," Glynda said, rapping firmly until she heard an exasperated voice on the other side. 

"Come in! No- Andy put that back in tha bathroom, ya little shit!"

"Little shit! Little shit!"

"NO!"

Lyla couldn't help but snicker when she heard a young voice mimic the likely unintentional swear but soon dropped it when she could spy inside the apartment. Suffice to say, it wasn't quite what she expected. 

There was a proper entryway, first off, with a small shoe rack holding many pairs of little shoes with a couple of larger ones strewn about at random. More importantly though, on the left was a doorway that led to a combined kitchen and den space next to a staircase that led to an upstairs. And on the right were two more closed doors that by all accounts shouldn't lead to more rooms when that wall should separate this home from Ruby and Penny's. It was as if a small  _ house _ existed here in the space of an apartment but it shouldn't work like that according to the laws of reality. It just shouldn't  _ fit.  _

"The upstairs and these rooms to the right are enchanted to occupy their own space and not interfere with the rooms above or next door, Miss Wrenn." 

As much as that both did and didn't answer her questions, Lyla had no time to force Glynda to expound on that far-too-brief explanation as someone came out of the open doorway in front of the staircase, wiping her hands on an apron decorated with both small and large paint handprints. Barely a glance was sent their way though as the young woman made an immediate turn for the stairs. 

"Gimme a mo', Glynda. Youse gonna hafta wait," she called, getting a simple acknowledgement that no one could hear as she hollered up the stairs on her way up. " _ Andy I know youse in mah razors! Put 'em back now! _ " 

"Wayzor!"

"Yeah! Now put it back!"

The woman, Nova by her guess, had been in view long enough for Lyla to get an eyeful though. They looked to be about the same height, which was short, but where Lyla was slim and vaguely top-heavy, Nova was heavier set and had the full package bound up in loose sweats and a stained tank top beneath her apron. And where Lyla's endless silver braid stood out against her dark leather ensemble, Nova's dark mohawk failed to even grace the tops of her heavily pierced ears, though it did showcase some menacing tattoos on the shaved sides of her head, including a glowing mark centered on her forehead that seemed to pulse with arcane energy. 

Then there were the scars. Old, healed-over lacerations across her hands and all the way up her arms, too numerous to count without careful inspection. 

At least she seemed to have plenty of energy and an upbeat if frustrated attitude as she bargained with "Andy" for possession of her razors. 

"Nee-ilk?"

"Yeah yeah, we'll get some milk so gimme! Gotta finish dinner an' then we can! Watch yer animals an' play wit' yer toys!" 

It was only a couple minutes of waiting before Nova came back down, running a hand over her face as she put up a forced smile for her two visitors.

"'Sup, Glynda? Whozzat?" she asked, stuffing her hands in her apron front and giving Lyla a once over with stunningly vivid red eyes. 

"This, Miss Rossi, is Lyla. She's a new member of your neighbor's team and I wanted to introduce you."

"Hi!" Lyla waved nervously, a little intimidated by Nova's stare. She noted the way everything about her was scoured as if checking for a threat. "I think there was a chance of us… rooming together? Do you... need a babysitter?"

"I migh'," Nova said slowly, immediately looking unsure as her smile slipped and she ran a hand over her face again. She seemed to double down on her efforts to give Lyla the most critical examination she'd ever been subjected to. "Ya gonna sign up for tha' when ya got friends ta chase aftah?"

"I won't be busy all the time so I can do my share around the house or whatever you need," she assured. "I like kids a lot so-"

"Evah chased one 'round every day of tha week?" Nova interrupted. "Had ta keep 'em outta anythin' and everythin'? Ruin yer diet to keep 'em fed?!"

"Mhm. I helped watch my- my grandpa's other grandkids," Lyla said, powering through despite the angry interruption. It certainly didn't seem like Nova was trying to be rude. She was trying to be a dutiful, cautious mother. She looked exhausted going by the bags under her eyes but was still careful enough to vet whoever came through her home.

Probably needed a good venting session. 

"If you are both amenable to possibly rooming together then I can leave you two to get better acquainted for the evening. Let me know in the morning how you feel about it?" Glynda interjected suddenly, turning away with her eyes glued to her scroll when Lyla and Nova's odd staring showdown was halted and they both gave a hesitant nod. "Excellent. Keep me posted. Miss Rossi you know the number to call to reach me with any emergencies."

Nova stayed silent in the wake of Glynda's rush to leave as she returned to being business-like and cold, waiting until the door shut behind her to speak. "Jus' so's ya know. Ya ain't the first one Glynda's tried ta put in here ta help. Everyone runs off aftah a while. I'll put ya up if ya chip in when yer not busy. This's gotta be an equal opportunity house. Do yer fair share and we won't have no problems, capiche?"

Lyla made a face at how tired Nova sounded, nodding her understanding. To her mind it shouldn't be too difficult to look after one toddler after babysitting a pack of seven so she looked forward to helping keep this house in order, no matter how terrifying 'Andy' could be. "Of course! Should I meet your son before we-"

"Daughter," Nova corrected with a sudden chuckle, an unexpected smile catching Lyla off guard. "Andy's short fer-"

_ “Ball!" _

_ “Andromeda Lynn, don’t you dare!” _

The reprimand came nearly too late. Lyla watched a head of curly black hair barrel towards the stairs and stop just short of the top step, only to turn and run back out of sight again before she could get more than a glance at big eyes the same brilliant shade as Nova's and a pretty pink sundress. 

"An-Andromeda's a pretty name," Lyla joked to cut the tension that near-miss had caused, a hand over her own chest to try and calm her heart. She'd been prepared to leap to the stairs to stop the little girl from tumbling down them and had to consciously fold her wings back even though she didn't have anything close to the amount of space she needed to use them. 

"Thanks… Wanted her ta have a unique name. Set her apart from mah family, y'know?" Nova said distractedly, looking a little dazed. Understandable when your child nearly took a tumble like that. But she also seemed to have only just noticed Lyla’s wings when they started to spread and was now having a hard time not staring. “Well… Why don’tcha come in? Get comfy. Have dinner? Makin' lasagna, if ya eat that."

"Uh… Not since I was little. This is my first time back to Vale in a long time," Lyla explained sheepishly, giggling at the incredulous outrage on Nova's face. 

"Well, we gonna  _ fix _ that. Don't even  _ know  _ what youse been missin' out on!"


	3. What the Morning Brings

Ever since she was little, Lyla had always been an early riser. Mom had always joked that it was the bird in them that had them up just before the crack of dawn eating toast and jam together at the kitchen table, wherever that table happened to be that month, long before Daddy would ever consider waking. The quiet. The slowly fading darkness outside. The serenity of no one rushing around. It was all so calming. Pre-dawn morning was truly the best time of the day for recharging and preparing for the next round of whatever the world had to throw at her. 

To this day she still awoke like clockwork just before the sunrise, even though toast and jam with Mom wasn't a thing anymore. Grape didn't really taste the same anymore but strawberry or raspberry was fine. 

After all the noise and the flurry of activity from last night it was astounding that she could get the quiet she sought. 

Lyla crept carefully across the hall from her new first-floor bedroom that she'd moved into, methodically dragging her brush through her long silver tresses on her way. She sidestepped some wooden building blocks that had not been there when she went to bed, smiling and thinking of little Andromeda. 

Andy was indeed very cute. All round in the face with those big red eyes she'd gotten from her mother, she had flitted about the kitchen between bites of lasagna, never still and constantly chattering about this, that, and the other thing. Much of it had been about "wings" of course after meeting Lyla but after some time teaching some unseen friend about them and getting used to the new woman's presence she had shifted to talking about the many animals on her television show, babbling at an incomprehensible and rapid clip that barely resembled the common tongue. 

It was easy to see how Nova could struggle to keep up with such a child on her own between housework and tasks from the Guild, as adorable as she was. Every other sentence from the woman's mouth was either a warning to keep Andy's long, grabby fingers out of a drawer or an irritated reminder for her to continue eating instead of faffing about the kitchen. Keeping the child in a chair to finish her meal seemed to be a battle that Nova had long since waved the white flag in. 

Seeing the relief in her exhausted face when Lyla immediately tasked herself to collecting and cleaning dishes after eating had been immensely satisfying. Not only because it meant she was making a good impression but because it was nice to see the semi-permanent lines of anger in Nova's forehead smooth out. Even though she'd not learned much about Nova's past since they'd only made small talk about what daily life in the world of Beacon was like it was clear to her from the guarded face she kept on and the dangerous Grimm tattooed on her skin that she'd had a rough go at things. 

Hadn't they all? 

It left her feeling sympathetic and glad to help. Even if sharing rooms with someone from difficult circumstances and their high-energy child was going to be hard, it didn't seem like such a bad thing if it were this particular criminal-looking woman and her babbling daughter.

And while Andromeda was undeniably adorable, at the end of the day Nova  _ did  _ have the look of a former criminal which couldn't make things any easier for her. It would make sense how some people could be intimidated away by that. 

_ Criminally hot though.  _

Lyla tried to ignore that thought. 

There was plenty else to consider once she'd heard how much her first impressions differed from everyone else's in Beacon, so that was enough to keep her frowning rather than blushing. 

Amidst the delighted shrieks from upstairs as Lyla had settled in during Andy's bath time, Yang had filled her in on the local rumors over video chat on their scrolls surrounding the "delinquent" Nova and her "crazy" child. While shocked to learn about where Lyla was potentially rooming, the blonde had been cautiously optimistic about it. If it worked for Lyla, it would work for her since it meant they could be close. But she still just wanted to leave the Faunus woman with some tidbits. 

Lyla learned that her potential new roommate was one of the youngest and most sought-after trackers in Beacon. But for all her skill she chased off any attempt to inquire into her past or make friends. All business and no pleasure. To the point of publicly shaming individuals that pried too much. There had apparently been quite the encounter with "that Winchester twerp" that had led to him being banned from the Beacon premises after crossing Nova's path. 

Meanwhile Andromeda was considered an unapproachable force of nature. While adorable, the rest of the guild called her "unnerving" and "too much". Out in public she was not nearly the little ray of sunshine that Lyla had seen once the girl had warmed up to her presence. Even Yang admitted to not knowing how to deal with the taciturn toddler, mentioning frequent tantrums and bouts of hysterics with seemingly no trigger when the girl wasn't quiet. 

In the year since Yang and Ruby had gotten the rooms adjacent to Nova's there had been at least one new roommate, if not two, each month that had filed through.

Every one of them moved to a different room within the week. 

Yet Glynda kept attempting to find someone to take that extra bedroom across from the kitchen. There was even an open notice on the Firsthold community board with an offer of compensation for someone to at least look after Andy through the daytime hours whenever they could; an unclaimed offer that had sat up there so long the paper was falling apart. 

  
  


Lyla hoped she could be the one to bring the Rossi's streak to an end. They seemed like such a nice mother-daughter pair. 

Without giving it some time though it was hard to say how things would go. So she just needed to keep up with her usual routines and see how they meshed. 

Starting with her morning exercise. 

It was pretty hard to interfere with anyone else's routine when yours started at dawn and just consisted of brushing and braiding hair while grabbing a snack, dressing up in a sports top and shorts, and heading outside to find a big clearing to work out in. And of course no coat so her feathers ruffled in the early morning breeze. 

"Mornin' Birdy!"

"Shhhhhush!" Lyla jumped when Yang's voice spooked her from just outside Firsthold's front door, lightly slapping in the laughing blond's direction and blinking when her hands came away sweaty. "Have you  _ already  _ done a workout?"

"Yup. I go for a run, get some breakfast, then go lift and run some more," Yang said cheerily, returning to her stretches she'd been doing before she spied Lyla about to walk outside. "You work out in the morning too?"

"Just… Just a quick… fly…" It actually surprised her how many people were out and about already. Apparently the yard around Firsthold as well as the other living quarters was the place to be for exercise and physical activity. Some people were training with swords or offensive spells. Others were wrestling, running, lifting, or whatever it was they needed to do to keep in shape. No fliers though. Which meant she became the center of attention again as the only Faunus with wings. She couldn't help getting quiet with that many pairs of eyes boring holes into the back of her head. 

"Oooh, can I come hang? Give ya a boost?" Yang was either completely oblivious or willfully ignorant to all the staring aimed in their direction, bearing a sudden striking resemblance to Ruby's innocent enthusiasm that made Lyla smile despite herself. 

"...Sure. Know a place that isn't covered in.. y'know.."

"People? Yeah! Come on this way!"

Yang grabbed at her hand and immediately turned north to skate along the side of the dorm and avoid all the foot traffic on the walkways, heading straight into a lightly wooded area that separated Firsthold from the next large dorm. There was a clearing a ways in that looked like it was used for games going by the wear in the dirt and the many places for posts to be secured for nets and such. No one was here now though and there was all this space just for the two of them. 

"Ta-da! People come over for ball games and stuff. Bunch of nets and shit in that shed over there," Yang pointed out, grinning and stretching leisurely in the cool shade under the trees. The morning dew still persisted over here and was probably pretty pleasant to someone that was hot from working out. 

Lyla was cold though and shivered, shaking her wings free of the light most that had come down from the trees. "Works for me. Don't think this means I'll play with you anymore though, ball hog." She giggled at Yang's eye roll, crouching so she could prepare to jump. The blond had no retort when she noticed though and just looked excited to see this happen. 

May as well give her a bit of a show. Lyla could jump high enough to catch air with Aura alone but she felt like showing off. 

It only took a moment's concentration to palm some magic and clap her hands to jolt her body with extra energy, using it to leap above the canopy. There was a blast of exhilaration too that had nothing to do with Yang's excited shrieking and everything to do with the joy of the movement. She beat her wings hard, their strength carrying her even higher so she could catch a gust of wind and begin to soar far above Beacon's grounds. 

Up here it no longer mattered who stared at her. Up here she could savor the cool of the air as she cut through it to do loops and swirls, laughing with the motion that was better than anything any amusement park could ever conjure. There was just her, the sky, and the distant horizon with all the beautiful scenery filling the world below. Everything was prettier and simpler up here. Which was why she tried to keep her wings strong to keep flying and keep this amazing space to herself. 

Beacon itself was easier to grasp from this view too. She could see the arrangement of the dorms in curled off-shoots from the central tower where Mr. Ozpin worked from. The business end of things operated from the cluster of buildings surrounding that tower. Her keen eyes could pick out people from every walk of life heading in and out of them, surmising that they were the ones coming to make requests of this huge organization. 

Before long though her stomach grumbled angrily, reminding her that she still needed to have a proper meal. Which meant she had to give up her quiet time for the moment and join the weighted world again. 

Not as bad a prospect as it used to be when she came back to the clearing and found Yang scanning the sky for her, lighting up when their lines of sight crossed. 

And, she had an unexpected companion. Two, in fact. 

Nova, looking like she'd just rolled out of bed with her short mane of hair looking scraggly and in need of a morning wash, with little Andy at her side giggling madly and stopping her feet as she watched Lyla come down. 

Lyla gave a short wave as she circled the clearing in a slow descent, dropping down and cushioning her fall with a last catch of her wings to stall herself out. 

Nova gave a half-hearted wave back and watched over Andy from afar as the little girl sprinted across the clearing to where Lyla had landed, chattering incomprehensibly much to the amusement of Yang who had chosen to stroll over instead. 

"Looks like you got a little fan." Yang smirked while Lyla tried to make sense of what Andy was saying, giggling at the girl's unrestrained excitement. 

"Apparently so," Lyla replied, playing along and repeatedly grasping Andy's hands as she was high-fived over and over again.

"Wing! Wing! Di-no-saur!"

"Yes, yes, wings! No, I'm not a dinosaur, silly. I'm a Faunus!"

"Di-no-saur!"

"I'm  _ not  _ a di-no-saur!"

"...We saw ya take off when we came out ta look fer youse. She saw ya weren't in yer bed when she woke up an' wanted ta come find ya," Nova said amidst the ruckus and the laughter in the clearing. "Got super geeked when she saw ya flyin'. She's been on 'bout dinosaurs since. I was wonderin' how ya launched like that though. Couldn't've been Aura…"

Despite being quite distracted Lyla still replied cheerfully while she started a clapping routine that slowly diverted Andy's attention away from dinosaurs and into attempting to mimic this new game. "I'm a mage. I can't cast super fancy spells but I know a few good tricks."

As an example Lyla clapped her hands together a little more forcefully, surprising Andy into a gasp as a glowing ball of swirling purplish light appeared when they parted and was deposited into her curious hands. 

"Ball!

To no one's surprise Andy immediately chucked said ball in the air with a delighted squeal, chasing after it when Yang caught it and enticed her to play catch with a, "Sick throw, kiddo! Now catch it!"

Nova watched the exchange with a bemused smile, rubbing her eyes tiredly. To Lyla it looked like the woman had maybe gotten a grand total of three or four hours of sleep and she inched her way over since Yang was distracting Andy. It occurred to her as she did so that there was no glowing mark on the woman's forehead like there had been yesterday. She hadn't found a moment to ask her about it yet but figured now probably wasn't a great time either. 

"Would you… like us to watch her for a while so you can get some sleep? You look pretty exhau-"

"No."

Lyla jumped at the forceful denial, shrinking under Nova's intense gaze that was suddenly not very tired at all. The only reason she didn't get angry with the unexpected answer though was that Nova looked to immediately regret her outburst and averted her eyes with a tired sigh. 

"I appreciate the offer. Really. I'm not too sure youse really ready fer tryin' ta watch her without me around yet though. There's… things ya gotta know," Nova explained. 

It wasn't a very satisfying answer to hear. Nor a credible one to Lyla's eyes when she watched massive yawn wrack Nova's frame. "Are you sure?" she asked, stubbornly refusing to let it go just yet. She hoped she wasn't overstepping bounds but she didn't like to stand by while someone ran themselves ragged. "Like I told you, I've watched a lot of my cousins at a lot of ages so I have experience looking after kids and keeping them safe from themselves if that's what you mean. I bet she's really good at getting herself into things but I know how to keep tabs on that. If there's something else that she needs too like special food or something I'm sure we could talk about-"

"It ain't nothin' like that. It's just-" Nova cut herself off with an angry groan and dropped herself into the grass so she could lean against a tree and gather herself. "I ain't even worried about her hurtin' herself I-"

Lyla frowned but slowly sat down at the woman's side, hesitantly taking one of her hands to rub her palm in soothing circles. Nova jerked in surprise but didn't refuse the contact outright. She hadn't even meant to do it but just wanted to comfort her. 

"I'm worried- I'm worried she'll hurt… someone else…" 

That was an admission Lyla hadn't expected but she schooled her expression and waited quietly for the full story. 

"Andromeda has… two special things 'bout her," Nova began in a voice that wavered nervously. "One, she's found a Semblance already. That's what Glynda thinks anyway, 'cause I ain't never heard of a kid her age gettin' one. When she gets goin'- Like, when she gets angry or sad- She can't get hurt. Been a real stroke of luck in a way. Her body's so damn tough already and then she goes and makes a big ball of energy 'round herself. Bounces off everything like it's made of rubber. It's wild."

While she talked she slowly picked up more steam, the words coming easier while she watched Yang and her daughter toss the little magic ball around. 

"But two- and this is where the dicey part comes in… She's got  _ magic  _ too. The instinctual kind ya don't need learnin' for. And she does things without meanin' to… Few explosions. Burnin', freezin', an' meltin' things.  _ Transformin' things… _ Gets real hard to keep her under control some days... 'S all a game to her, y'know? I teach her an' keep her from makin' too much trouble 'cause I know some magic too but… it's slow goin'."

Lyla was quiet while she processed that, the pieces coming together and clicking into place. That would explain why people kept getting scared away from being Nova and Andy's roommate. And why they had a reputation that had people avoiding them. And why Nova was so defensive about people getting close. 

"If ya don't wanna stay someplace where ya might get hurt, I understand," Nova continued, hugging her knees to her chest and staring vacantly at the ball field. "When it comes down to it… I won' lie and say I don' need help. But I ain' 'bout ta force  _ no one _ ta deal if they ain' comfortable with it. So if ya wanna find a different-"

"I think you're getting ahead of yourself, Nova," Lyla interrupted, smiling a little and squeezing the woman's hand gently when she looked up and gave her a blank look of confusion. "I understand your worries but I haven't heard you actually ask me if I'd be okay with helping despite all this."

"...Ya mean you'd be okay with all that? I know ya said youse got experience with kids but-"

"If you'd like me to help I'd be more than happy to," Lyla assured. "I won't take your warnings lightly but now that you've told me what your worries are I think I'll be very well equipped to help. And when it comes down to it I'd help even if I weren't sure. I've already seen how hard you're trying in the way you protect her from anyone new so you absolutely deserve the help. Parenting isn't supposed to be left up to one person after all."

It wasn't until Nova turned a little red in the neck and eats that it occurred to Lyla how her words were starting to sound. To say it outright, they didn't sound that far off from the promise of a lover or a spouse and she colored red in the cheeks herself. Why did her words have to get away from her like that?  _ And _ she was still holding Nova's hand too which made this feel that much more intimate. She blushed harder though when Nova grasped that hand tighter as she tried to pull away, getting drawn in by those intense scarlet eyes again. 

"Be happy ta have ya," was the simple reply she got. Now it was especially hard to respond because her heart was doing its frantically gay pitter patter because Nova was smiling at her for real and she wasn't sure how to handle it. 

Thankfully Andy seemed to tire of playing with Yang at that moment and ran over to her mother with the ball in hand, brandishing it excitedly. "Mommy, ball!"

"I see that ball! Throw it here!" Nova said, releasing Lyla and standing so Andy could drag her off to play instead. 

Yang wandered over to Lyla's side in her stead, offering a hand to help her up with a wordless grin that said everything without having to say anything. 

"Don't you even dare-"

" _ Gay _ ."

Yang just howled with laughter at Lyla's indignant squeal, happily accepting the beating inflicted on her bare shoulder while Nova looked back at them with a confused look on her face. 

Lyla didn't have an explanation for her that she wanted to give but Yang had hit the nail directly on the head.


End file.
